The Tell Halaf Adventure

28 January - 14 August 2011. In 1899, after being led by a Bedouin tribe to nine mysterious stone sculptures at Tell Halaf during his travels in what is today north-east Syria, German diplomat and scholar Max Freiherr von Oppenheim returned to undertake two excavations between 1911 and 1913.

Oppenheim conducted research on the 3,000 year old royal palace which, tragically, was later decimated by an aerial bomb in world war two. For over 50 years the stone sculptures lay as rubble until a team of restorers took on the atlantic nine-year task of reassembling the pieces.

100 years after the original excavations began, the nine monumental sculptures, once thought to be irretrievably damaged, have miraculously been restored and are now on public display in the Pergamonmuseum.

With the aid of historical footage and photographs the exhibition tells the story of the discovery and excavation of the ancient artefacts, the fate that awaited them in November 1943 and their subsequent, unexpected return to glory.

Mon - Fri 09.00-16.00.